Abstract

ALMEIDA, Ana; LISBOA, Carolina  and  JESUS CAURCEL, María. Why does peer bullying happen?: The causal explanations of portuguese and brazilian adolescents. Interam. j. psychol. [online]. 2007, vol.41, n.2, pp. 107-118. ISSN 0034-9690.

The present study explores fifteen year-old adolescents' narratives and analyzes the causal explanations which underlie their mental representations on peer victimization. Through a scripted-cartoon narrative, which encompasses a semi-structured interview, is elicited the narrative process that stimulates the interpretation and inference of causes, emotional attributions and sociomoral reasoning allowing richer explanations of peer victimization. All these aspects were codified through a content analysis of individual interviews, based on a coding system previously elaborated. The results indicate that adolescents explain bullying as a characteristic pattern of interaction that develops within the context of a relationship between the victim and the aggressor, but magnified in the broader dynamic of the peer group. Data is discussed taking into consideration the specific goals of this study and, evidencing the importance of studying what adolescents say, think and how they reason and understand peer victimization to design research and interventions.

Keywords : Bullying; Adolescents; Attributions.

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